


Irregular — Klance

by keithcolgane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Death, Keith x Lance - Freeform, LGBTQ Themes, Laith, M/M, Mentions of blood/bruises/gore, Pining!Lance, Romance, Voltron : Legendary Defender - Freeform, keith / lance, klance, klance fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:10:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithcolgane/pseuds/keithcolgane
Summary: Long ago, on a forgotten planet named Earth, crime and violence was spreading like wildfire — many citizens either getting murdered or murdering each other.The governments of every surviving nation were eventually forced to fuse together, deciding to take its most wanted criminals and banish them to an unstable but survivable planet, naming it the International Blacklisting of International Wrongdoers, or IBIW for short.The plan was not thought through, an act of desperation that resulted in the criminals on IBIW experiencing extreme illness and eventually, the death of thousands as the illness spread.Now, with the diseases left by their ancestors long gone but still scarring some of the new generation in different ways, the innocent descendants of the criminals are being sentenced for the crimes of their ancestors — the relatives of the most notorious lawbreakers receiving the most awful punishment of all; to unwillingly participate in a twisted game.Which proves to be quite unfortunate for a teen who goes by the name of Keith Kogane, his best friend Katie, and a charming young man that the eventually two stumble into — complete with a flirty smile, sly blue eyes, and good a kissing technique.





	1. Transportation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Voltron fanfic, let alone Klance, so please be patient with me lmao. This chapter contains some of Keith, Katie, Shiro as a pushy guard and the time Keith accidentally killed his first cat. Enjoy! :)
> 
>  
> 
> Add me on Wattpad : @INNUENDHOES ;) (If this does well enough on ao3 I’ll put it on my account)

—

KEITH KOGANE AND KATIE HOLT are currently standing on the outskirts of the International Blacklisting of International Wrongdoers, or, as they like to call it, IBI to the W — a firm hand on either of the two teens' shoulders.

"You guys know what to do, so don't try anything." The guard warns gruffly behind them, and Katie rolls her eyes.

"We weren't _going_ to, but now you've given us the idea." She snaps back (with the dazzling charm that all fifteen year old brats possess), brushing a sandy coloured strand of hair from her face with an exasperated huff. Keith hushes her with a firm punch to the bony shoulder and cranes his neck to the side, trying to fix his glare on the man behind him.

"I _was_ reading you know, and then I innocently looked up from Analysis of the Aesopica to find three big guards standing over me. It was honestly quite frightening." 

The guard raises an eyebrow in amusement, the pink scar on his nose twitching up in response. Keith frowns. 

"But in all seriousness, why can't we go back home? I didn't even get to say goodbye to my sister or—"

"You know the drill...," The guard repeats, squinting at the series of numbers patterning Keith's exposed collarbone. "...Keit-g." 

"It's Keith." 

"No it's not," The guard laughs, both eyebrows going up comically this time around. Keith can feel Katie smirking beside him and he sighs. "It clearly says 11.5.9.20.7, which means Kei... Keit-juh, Ket— damn I can't even pronounce it. So shutup kid, and you and your friend can step on this platform over here before I call backup."

"I know it says that, just call me Keith please." Keith sighs, rubbing the imprint on his skin with the palm of his hand self-consciously. It is quite embarrassing for him, having 'Keitg' as a name. It's also the reason he wears big hoodies and resorts to wrapping his neck with scarves almost 24/7, his wardrobe cluttered with his oversized clothing.

"Okay, now step on the platform before you miss your slot. You wouldn’t want to do that.” The guard pushes, and Keith and Katie eventually comply, lifting themselves onto the translucent pane hesitantly. The guard behind guffaws quietly and something in his tone of voice makes Keith’s stomach churn oddly. 

"What are we supposed to do?" Katie asks, raising her voice a little to try and reach the guard lounging behind. 

"Just stand there for a while, in 30 seconds you'll have disappeared and bam, next community for another 17 years."

"Okay?" Katie replies, although it's more of a question than a reassured answer. Keith nudges her. 

"What community is it?" Keith asks, his lips curled into a rather unimpressed scowl as he reviews the distant sunset ahead of them. Sun was never really his thing, and the beams of light landing onto his exposed face are enough to make him cringe. 

"What if there's a malfunction, like the last eight times they tried this? What if—"

"What community is _it_." Keith repeats, trying to project his annoyance through his tone of voice. It works.

"I don't know." Katie replies after a while, and her feet tap on the ledge impatiently. 

"You've probably jinxed it now." 

Katie ignores Keith's statement and stares straight ahead, her green fingernails tapping on the side of her chin. 

Keith gives her an empathetic glance and she suddenly turns to him, her face knitted together anxiously.

"Do you think he noticed?" She hisses, hazel eyes darting around suspiciously. Keith shrugs and she groans quite loudly before resuming her former posture. Keith stifles a laugh, he knew that Katie faking her age on the application sheet was a bad idea — but like the stubborn teen she is, she ignored him, and promptly stuffed her bra the following morning. 

"Make sure you kids behave!" Keith hears distantly, and he pulls a face. Just because his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-and a few more great grandparents were serial killers doesn't mean he's a bad guy, although he does get an urge to throw kitchen knifes around sometimes. The thought makes his fingers twitch, and he stuffs his hands into his pockets hastily. 

"It's time!" The guard announces, and he presses a button on the watch he's wearing with a happy sigh. Keith purses his lips and clasps his hands into fists; Katie readjusts her glasses and the lumpy placement of the toilet paper in her bra. 

At first, the pair feels nothing unusual. Just the tweak of excitement in their guts and the unusual itch of paper against one's skin (well, the last bit definitely applies to Katie more than Keith). But the wind soon picks up, and it isn't like the usual, cool breeze they get on a summers day. 

This wind rips through the air like a shot of lightening, the sudden change of atmosphere pounding into their bodies and the impact nearly knocks Katie's glasses from her rosy face. Keith clutches his maroon hoodie as the fabric is almost ripped from his upper body, putting his arms around his waist and spitting out his dark hair accumulating in his mouth; all the while shrieking panicky string of curse words so loudly that it even makes Katie howl with fear. 

Strangely, Keith suddenly feels himself disconnecting from... well, _himself._

He feels cold, and then he distantly feels all of his memories slowly draining away like sand through a child’s fingers, the sensation like a dull tug on his head. His first conversation with Katie, his last conversation with his sister, his first cat that he accidentally killed. Everything’s disappearing faster than he can comprehend.

He doesn’t even try to stop them.

Then, suddenly, the wind stops screaming at them like a tortured ghost, leaving them with a silence so unusual that the whistling in their ears was more bearable — and then the two newest characters of Irregular turn their heads to find that the guard is gone, the street they game down is had disappeared, everything they’ve ever known is gone – and all that remains is the comically yellow sunset behind them, and the glitching abyss underneath their shoes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some telepathy, watery eyes and burnt fingertips :)

—

_KEITH, MY NAME IS KEITH. My name is Keith._

 

Keith awakes with a start, dark eyelashes batting over the freckles lightly dusted across his cheeks, his mind still whirring with distant thoughts of a funny girl called Katie and a dead cat named Jenny. His head hurts like a bitch, and the cramps in his muscles aren't improving the situation in the slightest. 

His shaky legs pull themselves up almost automatically and he quietly stretches, his hand suddenly coming into contact with something that sends a burning jolt down his skin and makes him cry out in pain. 

Now there's a open gash on the back of his hand, and to make matters worse the hot surface seems to be all around him, small flickers of red bouncing from the translucent barrier and confirming his theories. Figuratively, he's trapped. Literally, he's also trapped – but he feels much better saying it figuratively.

His fists are now clenched inside his pockets, mouth stuck in an unpleased grimace and dark hair obstructing his vision annoyingly. There isn't a sound to be heard around him, the glitching floor making him jump with every blue sizzle of electricity and the comically hot sun beginning to burn his pale skin through his thick, winter clothing.

"Goddamn..." Is all that Keith can pass out of his lips, his knees eventually giving up and forcing him to the ground with a heavy sigh. The fact that he has a limited amount of space before he'll burn himself to death is fuelling his anger even more, and he can physically feel his clothes sticking to his body from the unfaltering heat generating from that odd sunset behind him.

And then suddenly, his head fills with a strange low whirring sound, the noise forcing a choked sob from his mouth. But instead of a machine or killing device appearing and putting him out of his misery, he sees a flash of electric blue behind his eyelids; and to his surprise, another person appears a few metres away from him.

This boy, instead of boiling to death like Keith, seems to be freezing cold – his whole body trembling violently and his reddened knuckles curled into fists around his torso, tanned face buried into the simplest of summer shirts and low, chattering whispers coming from his lips. 

Surprisingly, Keith can hear them all quite clearly. 

Keith's first instinct is to try and reach out to him, but the barrier surrounding him is like fire to his skin, various burns on his fingertips proving the point. 

So instead, he does what he knows how to do best; he screams. 

Keith Kogane curls himself into a ball and screams, he screams like all hell is biting at his ankles, he screams until there are tears forming in his eyes and until all the pressure in his chest is just a whisp of forgotten pain.

Then suddenly he hears a knocking inside of his skull, and an odd echoing voice that sends shivers down his spine.

_Jesus Christ, you're one hell of a screamer._

 

—

 

Keith thinks he's reached the epitome of insanity. 

He hears the noise again, this time, much more clearly — the voice almost pleading with him to respond. 

_Hello??_

Keith grits his teeth, forcing a staggering sentence out of his mouth as he clutches his head in agony. 

"Get out of my head!!"

A small sob chokes its way out of his lips as he can physically feel the voice groan in annoyance, and he feels a warm sigh in the middle of his mind that almost makes him faint. 

"How are you doing that?" 

_Doing what?_

"Talking," Keith whispers aloud, and to his horror the voice in his head begins to feel more... human. "Inside my head. Who are you?"

_I don't know, it's just happening.  
I can't move either._

"Neither can I." 

Keith finds himself smiling, despite the situation. How odd, he's having a conversation with a random person inside of his head, all the while trapped in some sort of burning forcefield that is cooking him alive. The whole thing seems almost unreal, and he can hear the person giggling distantly.

"Are you a boy?" 

_Yes._

"Same." Keith answers shortly, watching a droplet of sweat roll from his brow onto his jeans. He can feel the boy pause briefly and the hollowness in his mind is almost annoying, so he's glad when it refills with a question.

_Are you the boy who's boiling to death in front of me?_

Something stops in Keith's mind at this point, and he feels the atmosphere change almost dramatically around him. The low hum in his head has ceased, and all that he can hear now is the anxious breathing of the boy inside of his head. 

He attempts to look up, and for a split second he sees the blurry silhouette of the boy looking directly at him, his watering blue eyes fixed on Keith’s face. Keith almost chokes on his spit, and he tries to open his mouth; before, of course, they’re both interrupted. 

The low whirring sound vibrates in Keith’s head again, this time less violently. And then, after a small pause, a girl appears right beside him, a blotchy green barrier around her small body and her round glasses hanging from her left ear clumsily.

And then another person appears, and then another person, and then another — until Keith is sure there are thousands of teenagers just teleporting all around him. He’s lost sight of the boy now, and he isn’t talking to him inside of his mind either. 

He watches as hundreds of confused teenagers look around, everyone’s expressions mirroring each other’s.

One girl is crying out in pain as she tries to remove her large winter coat – another boy trying to keep himself on his feet as his forcefield whirls around him like a tornado. It’s all too much to handle, but as Keith is about to pass out from the heat — a loud, static voice shocks them all into silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some fanart would be cool for this ;) 
> 
> also thank you to the three people who left kudos! please comment as well, id love to reply to questions and stuff!!


	3. Welcome To Irregular!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some platonic kidge, a staticky voice and a billion sighs.

—

_“Hello! Welcome to Irregular.”_

 

KEITHS IMMEDIATE REACTION IS SHOCK. He can feel the tension gradually building up all around him, and his legs begin to tremble anxiously. His eyes desperately scan around the area, trying in vain to find the comforting gaze of that guy he had been ‘talking’ with. He even attempts to try and communicate with him inside of his mind again, shutting his eyes tightly and concentrating so hard he’s sure his eardrums will pop. 

He’s met with silence.

 _“Hello! Welcome to Irregular.”_ The voice repeats, and Keith frowns as a shrill beep shrieks through the air – and oddly, it affects everyone else but him. His eyes dart around at the pained faces of his peers and he feels a brief ache in his chest before his attention is drawn elsewhere, to a glitching screen appearing ahead of him. 

_“Sorry for the wait, you all may now exit your chambers.”_ The voice projects, and the annoyed expressions of all the teenagers mirror Keith’s almost perfectly. But nevertheless, he’s grateful when the burning forcefield surrounding him dissolves into the atmosphere, and he can finally take a breath of fresh air. 

His fingers are aching and he stinks of perspiration as he squints, searching for a face he can remember, or someone he can talk to, or anything. More importantly, he wants to find that boy.

Keith takes a step forward, and then stops awkwardly. He notices that a girl with sandy-brown hair is looking at him with almost a disappointed frown — her circular glasses perched on her nose daintly. Keith scowls right back, and is about to continue on his journey before he feels a sweaty hand grab at his wrists. 

“Excuse me?” A female voice calls, and it appears to belong to the girl Keith was pulling a face at, although this time her expression is more confused than judging. Keith quirks an eyebrow. 

“Sorry if this is weird, but I think we’re meant to be partners? I don’t know, there’s this voice in my head and it—”

“Voice?” Keith interrupts rudely, not really caring about whatever she had meant by them being ‘partners’. The annoyed tug on her lips forces Keith to hide an amused grin, and she sighs loudly before nodding.

“Yeah, it—”

“What does it sound like?” 

“Interrupt me one more time and I swear to... something.” The girl snaps, her hazel eyes narrowed as she glared at Keith’s surprised expression.

“Okay... okay. Calm down.” 

Another sigh escapes the girls lips, and she pinches the bridge of her nose for a few seconds before continuing the conversation.

“It sounds... staticky.” She says after a while of thought, and Keith sighs. Something deep inside him was hoping that what she would describe would match his faint memory of the boy’s voice in his head, but he dismisses the thought as quickly as it had first appeared in his mind.

“Anyways..,” The girl mumbles, tapping the side of her chin with her green fingernails impatiently. Something about the action seems familiar to Keith, but he can’t quite place his finger on where he’s seen it before. “Back to the point — you and I are partners.” 

Keith raises both eyebrows. 

“Your name?” 

“Pidge.” 

“But...,” Keith scrunches his face up as a sharp pain goes through the back of his mind. “...Katie?” 

“Huh?” Pidge asks, obviously distressed at the way Keith is acting. The name Katie oddly pulls at her gut, and she feels faint for a few seconds.

“N-nevermind.” Keith stutters awkwardly, rubbing his forehead. He doesn’t even know where he’d gotten the name from, but he decides to keep that topic for later. Because at this moment he’s trying to figure out what the hell he’s doing here; and why he’s apparent ‘partners’ with a girl who looks like an 8 year old boy. 

_”Attention — please can all teenagers in the Areana find their designated partner. I repeat, please can a teenagers in the Areane find their designated partner.”_ The shrill voice returns after at least half an hour of peace, and everyone visibly cringes. Keith also notices that everyone is now standing with another person, comically angry and apprehensive looks being passed between most pairs. Keith looks down at Pidge and rolls his eyes, although he does find it the tiniest bit funny that he can see the top of her head simply by looking down. He takes a mental note of that, so he can tease her about it later.

 _“To make sure that all pairs are correct a register will be read in approximately 6 seconds.”_ The voice announces, and everyone goes silent as they anxiously await their name to be called.

_“Hunk Garrett and...”_

_“Nyma Brooke and Rolo Dhumph”_

_“Lancw McClain and Allura Altean”_ A chorus of giggles go around as the first name of the duo is called, and even Keith chuckles a little. _Poor guy, having a name like that_ ,he thinks to himself. 

_“And finally, Keitg Kogane and Pidge Gunderson.”_

Keith’s blood runs cold at that one. Keitg?? His name is Keitg?? He can feel all eyes turning to him, but nobody laughs. Probably because the swelling burn on his hand and dark hair make him look tough... or something. Or it’s because Pidge is shooting glares like glares at anyone who even dares to give Keith an odd look, and the dark-haired teen finds himself smiling fondly. 

Maybe him and Pidge will get along after all. 

_“Now that all the pairs are assembled, we would like to go over some rules.”_

Everyone begins to mutter to themselves in confusement. 

“Who’s ‘we’??”  
“Rules??”  
“Is this some sort of game??”

_“This test consists of four parts: all of which you will learn the names of later. All you have to do is get through them safely, use the codes on your collarbones to check through the last level — and you’re finished.”_

Keith frowns. What was the point in all this?

_“You may be asking yourself why this is needed, why you don’t have any recollection of where you came from, or your memories etc. Everything will be explained later.”_

_“Now, your objective for the first trial is; To find the other pair who you and your partner will complete Irregular with. Be careful who you choose, for we already know who your fours will consist of — so if you pick the wrong pair to join you... you unfortunately will not be able to complete Stage 1. But we all think that a few of you already know who they are, you will feel a strange sort of connection around at least one of them. Good luck, teleportation to Stage 1 will proceed in ten minutes.”_ The voice goes dead, and immediately everywhere is filled with panicky shrieks and mental breakdownt — the blunt ending not helping anyone’s fears.

“How are we supposed to find another pair to join if we don’t know which the right one is?!” Pidge screeches, shaking Keith’s sleeve frantically.

Keith, on the other hand, is perfectly calm — his mind filled with a distant thought of telepathy and tanned skin and the freezing cold and blurry blue eyes.

“I think I might have an idea, on who one of our four is going to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kidge is great and i totally need more interactions in vld. also, less than a month until season 6?? my body is not ready?? 
> 
> the klance reunion better be quality or else–


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> waterbending, a kidge hug, and minor swearing :)
> 
> trigger warning: mentions of blood/minor details of gore

—

_"Teleportation to Stage 1 will proceed in 30 seconds."_

 

KEITH FINDS HIMSELF HOLDING THE sleeve of Pidge's sweater, and strangely enough, she finds herself reciprocating the gesture. The area is almost silent now, only hushed, anxious whispers vibrating through the 'air', and they all reach Keith's ears almost instantly. 

His body urges for him to find the telepathy guy, but his mind like a blank canvas. So blank, in fact, that he cannot hear the small whispers floating through his head at this very moment. Pidge tugs on his sleeve harshly. 

"Keith," She hisses, her teeth gritted and her jaw in an odd, lopsided position. "I feel weird." 

The dark-haired teen pulls a 'And what the hell do you want me to do about it?' face, and Pidge lets a shaky sigh from her chapped lips before resuming her normal posture without another word.

Keith is now waiting for an announcement to proclaim that they are ready for take off, or something of the sort – because he's sure that thirty seconds passed quite a while ago. Maybe a bleep, or a sudden noise to alert him and the others — who are also waiting patiently.

It never comes.

Keith's only thought is that he has been kicked in the groin, a searing pain springing up from the particular area and making him shriek in surprise. And then the sensation travels down to his feet, and up to his arms, until his whole body is a twitching, trembling mess — jerking, sharp vibrations causing him to almost pass out.

The air is bending around him, taking the breath out of his lungs and making him dizzy.

He truely believes that he is about to die.

However, before he can register what is going on he feels a tap on his shaking shoulder, the atmosphere noticeably shifts, and he turns his head to see a snotty faced Pidge stood in front of him, a large cut on the side of her face, her glasses broken atop of her head. The floor is no longer glitching and electric blue, but rather a muddy red. The lighting is also much darker, and Keith can just about make out the figures of other teens shrieking around him.

"We're doomed." 

 

—

 

"Huh?" 

"We're doomed." 

"I can't–I can't hear you."

Katie presses her cupped fist against Keith's ear, shouting at the top of her lungs. 

"We're doomed." 

"Oh." Is all that Keith can reply, his attention fixed on the thousands of teenagers huddled up in this strange cavern with him and Pidge. The cavern-like-place is small, too small for everyone to stand up in, and so Keith sees a lot of kids piled on top of each other awkwardly.

"Keith, we're trapped here. Nobody has found a way out and they've tried, they've tried Keith." Pidge sounds like she's choking back tears, and her statement is correct. At least ten boys are currently scaling the strangely high walls, pounding their fists against the material desperately. 

Keith puts an arm around Pidge protectively as a tall girl runs past them, leaving a trail of heat in her path. Keith then notices another boy crying, but his tears don't slide from his chin, instead – they form small spheres in the air around him. 

There is also a girl who is twisting her fingers in an odd and almost cruel way, and to Keith's surprise she seems to be slowly moulding the water gushing from the small stream beside her, droplets of water flicking onto people around the area.

Waterbenders? Keith must be going crazy.

To make matters worse, he can also feel a burning heat coming from his own hands, but he ignores it hastily, instead focusing on Pidge — who is watching the thorns that are twisting their way out of her palms intensely. Keith almost faints. 

"Fucking hell." He breathes shakily, and then all of a sudden Pidge yelps as her hands begin to cut open and bleed. The thorns are suddenly shoving their way back into her skin, stabbing their way into the bloodied flesh that weren’t Pidge’s hands — and Keith notices that it’s because of the heat generating from his hands, and so the dark haired teen snaps his burning digits away quickly.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened." He tries to apologise, only to be met with Pidge bursting into tears and flinging herself into Keith's arms – which proves to be quite a shock.

He does have to shift around a little bit to make himself comfortable, but in the end the teen ends up running his slender fingers through Pidge's matted hair with a sense of déjà vu.

Keith finally sighs after a while of quiet from everyone, his head falling back onto the wall behind him, his eyelids fluttering shut. 

And then, with Pidge sobbing quietly into his chest and his mind almost shutting off to sleep, he hears the voice again. 

_Hey, you in here?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof im so sorry this chapter is shitty, but it’s gonna be more interesting next ;)
> 
> im trying not to rush the klance stuff, just because it wouldn’t work well will the storyline 
> 
> also dreamworks better release the s6 trailer soon or else


	5. The Game Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flirting, five lives and spontaneous combustion :)

KEITH COULD ALMOST CRY WITH happiness, and he shuts his eyes tightly, trying to concentrate.

“Say something to me.” He whispers aloud, ignoring the pairs of eyes that turn to look at him oddly. He feels the boy in his mind smile, and he finds himself smiling back.

_You’re a weird one._

Keith frowns.

 _So_ , The boy begins, eager to change the subject. _Let’s ask each other some questions._

“Like?” Keith whispers, his brain still not able to focus long enough so that he could reply telepathically. There’s just too much going on that’s making him jittery, and anyway, Katie’s bony shoulder is poking him in his equally bony waist – and the two don’t seem like such a good pair. 

_Dunno, I’ll start. How old are you?_

Keith pauses.

“I can’t remember.” 

The boy sighs sadly. _Neither._

“Ah.” Keith says, because for some reason he can’t remember anything that had happened before he arrived in this miserable prison. Only the boy’s voice and gender. Which seems a bit odd to him, and a bit well... yeah. Odd.

 _What do you look like?_ The boy’s voice asks, and Keith takes a minute to think.

“I’ve got dark hair, I’m white, um... there’s this girl laying on my chest?” 

_Girlfriend?_ The voice sounds mocking.

“Ahh, no.” Keith blushes, and the tension lifts from his chest as the boy in his head laughs.

_You seem cute._

“Why?”

_Because you say ‘Ah’ quite a lot, instead of ‘Oh’. It sounds cute._

“Ah– Oh. I meant oh.” 

_Sure._ The voice says with a smile, and Keith snorts — flashing a quick glance downwards to find Katie staring at him intently.

“What?” He asks, and Katie splutters, as if she can’t believe Keith has the nerve to ask such a question.

“What? You’re blushing like mad, and you’ve been giggling and looking skyward like some idiot.” 

“Ah, it’s the... firepower’s. They... make me hot.” Keith stumbles, and he swears he can faintly hear someone whispering “In more ways than one.” in his mind. Only the voice doesn’t sound like the boy’s, which creeps him out.

But like the ultimate procrastinator he is, he decides to visit that topic later.

“Uh huh.” Katie says with a raised eyebrow, but she burrows her head back into the crevice between Keith’s arm and doesn’t move for a while. Keith goes back to talking with the boy.

“So,” Keith clears his throat, careful to keep his voice down. “About this telepathy thing.” 

_What about it?_

Keith coughs, feeling uneasy all of a sudden. He swears he sees eyes in the walls, big and dark pupils staring at him — but they’re gone before Keith can open his mouth and cough again. 

“How does it work?”

_Well, I don’t know. But I like it. I like you._

Keith probably shouldn’t take this the wrong way, it’s a _strictly_ platonic compliment. The boy likes Keith for company. But he can feel a fluttering yank below his navel, and soon enough his legs are on fire. 

Literally. 

“Ah!” Keith says, but this time it’s more of a scream than casual sigh. But apparently he’s the only one who can see it, or feel it, because Katie is motionless on top of him. 

_What?_ The boy asks with worry, and Keith purses his lips. It would be a bit embarrassing to tell him that the small compliment had made his legs spontaneously combust, so he shortens it down a bit, for both their sakes.

“My legs are on fire.”

_Oh dear./em > Says the boy, and Keith can suddenly hear the distant sound of trickling water._

__

“Are you... taking a piss?” 

__

_Oh god no, just wait a second._ The voice sounds offended, and Keith suddenly feels a rush of cold water flush down his legs, making his full bladder almost explode. However he looks down to see his legs are no longer blazing, just small wisps of grey smoke billowing from his jeans. His eyes are about as wide as the pepperoni pizza you are no doubt enjoying now. He’s about to piss himself.

__

It’s not a great time to hear choked up giggles in his mind.

__

Keith shuts his eyes and clenches his fists, willing himself to be able to send a message to the boy through his head.

__

Probably something like Woah! You watered my legs! 

__

Which wouldn’t sound sane if someone heard him.

__

It doesn’t work, as expected, and so Keith has to avert to Plan B.

__

He’s just about to deliver the important message when a loud, whistling wind passes through his ears, and for a terrible moment Keith feels a painful throb on his neck. He opens his eyes with such force he almost cries, clutching his neck painfully. 

__

The view doesn’t make it any better for him either.

__

Him and Pidge are suddenly alone in a deserted part of a tunnel, five stripes decorating their forearms. They look pretty cool, until Keith deciphers the word on top. 

__

It read “Lives.” 

__

The game has apparently begun, and with a horrible feeling Keith realises that he and Katie have five lives shared between each other — and he has lost all contact with the guy inside his head.

__


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> crying pidge, hallucinating keith and some shitty writing from yours truly :)
> 
> (mild swearing)

—  
PIDGE DOESN'T HELP THE SITUATION at hand because the minute she opens her eyes she bursts into a sobbing fit— complete with a loud "Fuck this!" at the end. Keith can't really blame her. 

"Hey, hey." He hushes quietly, trying to hide the desperation in his voice. Pidge sniffs loudly, and she sounds a bit like a foghorn as she does so.

"I hate this." Pidge mumbles into her sleeve, and Keith forces a smile onto his face.

"Same. Now... we have to find another duo right?" 

"Right." 

"So," Keith coughs, secretly ploughing his mind for a particular boy's voice. "Any ideas?" 

"No." 

"Ah." 

The conversation dies down quickly, and the pair are left staring awkwardly at the floor for a few seconds — small clicking sounds echoing from the end of the tunnel they are currently stood in. Pidge doesn't seem to notice, her attention fixed on attempting to rub off the five bold lines imprinted on her skin with saliva. It isn't working, as expected.

"Pidge," Keith hisses, punching her shoulder so hard that the look she gives him is almost murderous. "I can't help but feel we're being watched." 

The girl raises an eyebrow, hazel eyes glancing around suspiciously. The walls look like they've been punched and scratched several times, deep marks covering the wet surfaces and giving it an artificial look. Small indents pressed in with little fingers go all the way over the two teens' heads, and Pidge can’t disguise the disgust and uneasiness she feels as she looks around.

She turns to Keith, his pale eyelids closed and his lips slightly apart — looking like he was trying to communicate with someone telepathically, or something weird like that. The teen scratches her head and sniffs indignantly. 

"I don't, you're just a pussy." 

Keith's silence is almost enough to make her regret opening her mouth in the first place.

"Okay...," The dark-haired teen begins after a while of chewing on his bottom lip, secretly hoping that the boy's voice will reappear in his mind, even for a second. "Let's go." 

"Keith I'm—"

Keith doesn't give her time to respond, because he grabs her non-snotty sleeve and drags her down the dirty tunnel.

—

 

"Oh my gosh, Pidge you need to fucking RUN!"

This would usually be the right time for Keith to hit pause, stop running for his life and go "So, I guess I should explain how I got into this mess." with a small sigh. Except he can't do that at the moment, and he stumbles over his feet as he drags Pidge away by the back of her shirt — away from the rocks that seem to be merging with each other and spitting fire.

Crazy, right? 

"Keith, Keith calm down! There's nothing there!" Pidge shouts, her legs starting to ache. Keith is surprisingly fast, and she can't help but notice how his hands are heating up by the second. It's making her nervous.

"Keith!!" 

The dark haired teen stops at that one, his face contorted with fear as he stares down the seemingly empty space behind them. Pidge gives him an angry glare. 

"Are you insane?" 

Keith is wheezing so hard he can barely hear her.

"N-No." He forces out between short, panicky breaths, his eyelids burning. Actually, his whole body is burning, but he's trying to ignore that.

"Keith," Pidge says quietly, the change of tone in her voice almost making Keith stand up and bolt away again. "What did you see?"

Keith takes a few seconds to regain his breath before he slumps to the ground, crossing his legs and sitting with an uncomfortable-looking Pidge.

"The rocks... they were, I mean uh– I can't remember." 

Pidge surprisingly doesn't give him an odd look, or roll her eyes. Instead, she threads her fingers with his and sighs wistfully. Keith barely notices, but in the back of his mind he wishes he was holding someone else's. 

"I heard something in my head that I didn't tell you." Pidge says quietly, sighing again and slowly taking her clammy hand from Keith's with a distant ache in her chest. Keith frowns and stares at the creases etched in his palms.

"Basically, uh, we have these health things? And they go down if we push ourselves too much. Also, we both have different perceptions of things. Like, uh I think you saw rocks spitting fire?" Pidge says in one breath, and Keith frowns. 

"I did?"

"You won't remember it, but I had this weird vision thing. Back to the point, I didn't see it — but there will be times when I'll see some weird shit and you won't. The only time they won't be an illusion is if we both see them." 

"So basically I nearly killed myself running from something that wasn't there to begin with?" 

Pidge laughs, but her laugh seems forced. 

"Yeah." 

"Great." Keith groans, and he runs a hand through his hair, which is surprisingly dry and soft and... normal. Game settings, he guesses.

"Oh and Keith?"

"Yeah."

"Those eyes you saw?"

"You made fun of me for that."

"Yeah, and I'm proud of it. But yeah, I saw them too. I also feel like we should go West, so get up and let's get moving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is so rushed whoops, and that abrupt ending was shite. 
> 
> but don’t worry, some more klance content is on the way soon ;)
> 
> (they’ll meet eventually lmao, I don’t wanna rush it)
> 
> remember to leave kudos! thanks for 14


	7. A Voice In His Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a lost keith, nausea and a voice in his head :)

PIDGE AND KEITH ARE CURRENTLY wandering in a random direction that Pidge has labelled as west, the only noise to be heard the scuffling of their feet and the weird mumbles Pidge keeps on hearing from behind her. It's incredibly dark down here, but Keith is just about managing. 

Probably because he's using his flaming hands for light, but back to the point.

"Keith." 

"Huh?" 

"Any idea where we're going?"

"West?"

Pidge laughs, and suddenly Keith feels uncomfortable. He rubs the five lines on his arm and shrugs. 

"It's just that we've probably been walking for hours... and I need a break." Pidge says quietly, her voice low as she stares down at her feet. It sounds fake, but Keith gives her an awkward hug anyway. 

"Okay, you sit here. I'll see if there's anything or anyone around here." 

The sandy-haired girl smiles gratefully and slumps down, watching Keith through her eyelashes as he mumbles to himself and ruffles his hair automatically, almost as if it was a rhythm. It's kind of freaky, but Pidge has to remind herself that technically he's not real, she's not real — they're both characters in a game. So of course Keith can act as if he's been programmed, because he has been. 

"How long will you be gone?" Pidge calls out just as Keith is about to turn a corner, a sudden wrenching feeling in the pit of her stomach almost making her projectile vomit. Keith shrugs casually, giving her a little wave.

"Bye." He says, and he leaves Pidge sprawled out on the cave floor – staring up at the glitching ceiling with unusual voices slithering around her head. 

And the two don't know it, but that was the last time Keith would see Pidge for a long, long time. 

—

"Hello?" Keith calls out to nobody in particular, dirty fingers scraping against equally dirty walls and tired eyes glancing back and forth. His face is in a scowl from a recent encounter with another girl, tempest-tossed hair like a birds nest atop his head but his clothes clean. 

"Hello??" Keith calls again, wandering aimlessly into another dead end. It's the third he's seen in ten minutes, and he rolls his eyes so far back that he almost blacks out. 

"Ah anyone, please talk to me." 

He spins around and continues in the way he came, stumbling over a small rock and almost crying. His mind has gone haywire, body swaying to an invisible tune and each second is like a new, fresh punch in the gut. 

"Pidge?" He calls out, and he swears feverishly as he is met with a deafening silence. 

"Please." He begs, not knowing what he's begging for – so his heart almost stops when someone responds to his pleading. 

_Hey, are you okay?_

Keith falls to his knees, burying his face in his dirty hands and running his fingers through his ruffled black hair. He doesn't cry, he doesn't even have the energy to, so he just kneels there until he can find enough sanity to speak. 

"No."

The boy in his head sighs, and the sound rumbles through Keith's chest.

_Can I tell you something?_

"Yes."

_We're definitely meant to join together for that group of four thing, and we're going to find each other._

Keith sighs shakily, wiping away dirt that smears his cheeks. "I've already lost someone. I-I don't know where to find her." 

_I’ll find you and then we'll find her. Deal?_

Keith doesn't respond, instead slumping his broken body against a rocky wall and trying to regulate his breathing. 

_You know,_ the boy continues, _when me and my partner find you, I'll give you a great big bear hug._

"Stop trying to make me feel better." 

_No._

"Why?"

_Because for some reason I can feel when you're feeling down, and it really drains my emotions._

"Ah." 

There's a heavy silence for a few minutes, before the boy decides to speak out again.

_You know, I just died._

"What?" Keith asks, rolling onto his side and furrowing his eyebrows. 

_Yep, I've only got four lives._

"How?"

_Some giant thing slashed me on the neck and decapitated my partner._

Keith can feel nausea slithering up his throat, and he resists the urge to projectile vomit over himself.

"How... nice." 

_When we meet, I'm going to have to kiss you._

The rate that this boy can change the subject is astonishing, but this time Keith freezes mid cough.

"What?" He asks, his voice catching in his throat before he erupts into a volcano of splutters. He can feel the boy grinning, and it doesn't help the situation at all.

_Yeah, it's a thing I do._

"Kiss people? Wtf." 

_I like how you just said 'Wtf' instead of 'What the fuck'._

"Don't change the subject!" Keith huffs, although he can't help the smile that is tugging at the corners of his mouth. He wonders if the boy can feel it too. 

_It'll only be a small one._

"Do you have to?" Keith asks, although he wouldn't really mind. The boy seems nice enough. 

_Afraid so. Don't want to break my code._

"Code?"

_You ask too many questions._

Keith sniffs, deciding to stand up on his trembling legs and continue his journey West. After the boy had promised they would go back and find Pidge his mind is at rest, although a wrenching in his gut tells him otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo, it’s been awhile
> 
> (explanation underneath)
> 
> i cant remember what happened after i published chptr 6, but i conpletly forgot to write. i think it was a gradual process of me not being ‘inspired’, to me not caring that much. life got in the way.
> 
> but, i was on gmail a few hours ago and i saw ao3 and was like ‘cool’. then i read it and it said i had kudos, and i was like ‘kudos on what?’ (i had forgotten this existed oof) and so i decided to click on my profile. and then i saw 89 kudos. 89!!! damn. and then those two comments about where the chapters were, i nearly cried. this chapter has been sitting in my drafts since may, i am so sorry. i don’t think ill have a schedule, but chapter 8 will be out shortly. thank you for your support and patience!!


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